Sam Farber

Pioneer of peeling

Whether or not you realized it, chances are good that Sam Farber spent time in your kitchen before his death on June 16 at the age of 88.

In the late 1980s Farber founded OXO, the company responsible for the Good Grips line of kitchen tools. Its best-known utensil is almost certainly its vegetable peeler, the one outfitted with an ergonomic black handle made of a rubbery soft plastic, called Santoprene, intended to enhance both functionality and comfort.

The inspiration behind the new design was Farber's wife Betsey, who suffered from mild arthritis and was struggling one day to peel apples...